A little over two weeks after the matchup came together, a scintillating Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight tilt is on ice.
At the end of July, the promotion booked Chris Curtis (31-11, 1 NC) against Kevin Holland (26-11, 1 NC) for the UFC 307 card on Oct. 5. Due to a foot injury revealed by “The Action Man” on Wednesday, Curtis has been forced out of the matchup. Curtis sustained the injury during sparring, fracturing his foot and also suffering a Lisfranc injury where small ligaments were torn or damaged. As a result, Curtis will be on the shelf for a few months, and he hopes to return to action in December. The UFC has not yet announced a replacement opponent for Holland.
“I’m fine, guys,” Curtis wrote. “Bit of a fracture in my left foot, caught [Caio Borralho] on the knee, at the very end of the last round of sparring. The bigger problem is I have something called a Lisfranc injury as well, which means I’m not even supposed to be walking without crutches for the next four to five weeks, which sucks but had it been any worse, it would have possibly been surgical. So count your blessing there. Hopefully, I’ll be OK for December. If not, I’ll see you all next year. Thanks for all the comments and concerns.”
Curtis was looking to get back in the win column after a five-round split decision loss to Brendan Allen in April. Before that setback, the longtime veteran outworked Marc-Andre Barriault at the beginning of the year. With just two wins in his last six outings—including a no contest against Nassourdine Imavov in 2023 due to a clash of heads—Curtis was hoping to turn things around after starting his UFC run with three straight victories from 2021 to 2022.
“Trailblazer” returned to the middleweight division in June to snap a two-fight skid and Michal Oleksiejczuk’s arm as well. That put a pair of defeats to Michael Page and Jack Della Maddalena behind him, albeit in a different weight class. Thus far, the Texan has experienced greater success at 185 pounds than welterweight, although he has spent more time in the higher division. Of note, Holland has beaten names like Santiago Ponzinibbio, Ronaldo Souza and Joaquin Buckley as he competed actively on the roster since debuting in 2018.
UFC 307, which still has no headliner, will play out inside of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5. It is expected but not finalized that Raquel Pennington will defend her 135-pound strap against Julianna Pena, with that matchup not likely serving as the main attraction. Other pairings on the card include a featherweight scrap between Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling along with a battle at 115 pounds as Marina Rodriguez faces Iasmin Lucindo.
